Zelve Open Air Museum

10 Mayıs 2018 Travel

First a monastic settlement and then a village (abandoned in the 1950s due to rock collapse), Zelve's three interconnecting valleys are a fascinating place to explore. As well as plentiful crumbling cave-habitations to admire, in Valley Three is a small, unadorned rock-cut mosque, while Valley One is home to the old değirmen (mill), with a grindstone and to the impressive Üzümlü Kilise (Grape Church) and neighbouring Balıklı Kilise (Fish Church) with fish figuring in one of the primitive paintings.